Team Penske driver Joey Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe are brothers from different mothers. That’s how close the pair have gotten since they were first brought together for the 2020 season.
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Since then, Logano and Wolfe have teamed up for 14 wins, two NASCAR Cup championships (2022 and 2024), and are in pursuit of yet another championship as the playoffs begin Sunday with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Team owner Roger Penske wanted to shake things up for the 2020 season, as Wolfe had been crew chief for Logano’s then-teammate, Brad Keselowski, from 2011 through the 2019 campaign. The successful pairing claimed 29 wins and the 2012 NASCAR Cup championship.
In a sense, Logano and Wolfe truly are like brothers. Sure, they may have an occasional argument, but they are joined together by one main goal: to win everything they can, not just races but also championships.
That’s why Logano has won two of the last three Cup championships, sandwiched around teammate Ryan Blaney’s title in 2023, giving Team Penske the last three Cup championships.
“Paul has like a never enough attitude,” Logano said of Wolfe during this week’s NASCAR Cup playoff Media Day. “He’s like a big brother that you want to make proud. I think everyone kind of has that feeling where they want to make Paul proud of them, and he is a really hard person to achieve that because his expectations are wicked high of everything we do.
“It’s not just in the race car, but you look at the way he lives his life, everything is way up here. His house, everything he’s put together perfectly. The guy, he’s great. He works out. He’s disciplined. It’s ridiculous.”
When Logano did not have his contract renewed with Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2012 season, Roger Penske was there almost immediately and offered him a car, partnering him with crew chief Todd Gordon, who oversaw Logano’s career from 2013 through 2019, earning 21 wins together as well as the 2018 Cup championship.
Then came the shakeup prior to the 2020 season, where Penske paired Logano with Wolfe and shifted Gordon to spend the next two seasons with Ryan Blaney.
Both Logano and Wolfe Thrive With a Competitive Spirit
One of the key attributes that Logano likes about Wolfe is that they’re both cut from the same competitive cloth, so to speak.
“I’m a competitive person,” Logano said. “I’m like, ‘I want to be better than that.’ It’s always a little level of competition, but it’s also like you want to make him proud…I think his ability to ask challenging questions is probably his way of doing that. He’ll question you in ways that’s gonna make you go to work in a lot of different ways, and sometimes it’s as simple as, ‘Eating that is gonna make you faster tomorrow?’”
“Things like that, that might be small, but it’s that attitude that you kind of have to bring everywhere you go, and Paul does a tremendous job at it. He’s tough to beat.”
Logano also likes the fact that his relationship with Wolfe is 100% truthful and transparent. Even if they’re in a losing streak, both men keep it real between themselves.
“Honesty,” Logano said of the bond that keeps him and Wolfe together. “It’s the same as every other relationship you’ve ever had in your life. As soon as you guys start making up stories or lying to each other, that’s the end. Whether you know it or not, it’s gonna come up and bite you. You’ve just got to be honest with each other.”
Although Logano qualified for the playoffs with his win at Texas earlier this season, it hasn’t exactly been the kind of season he and Wolfe would like, as Logano enters the playoffs with a dismal record of just one win, three top fives, and seven top 10 finishes.
Logano and Wolfe Hope for a Big Turnaround In the Playoffs
That’s why they’re hopeful that Logano will once again rise to the occasion in the playoffs as he did in 2022 and again last season and earn his fourth Cup championship (he also won in 2018).
“You’ve got to have those hard conversations,” Logano said of his team’s struggles this season and his understanding that voices can be raised at times and frustration can be problematic, comparing his relationship with Wolfe as somewhat of a marriage of sorts.
“You have to be able to talk things out and see each other’s perspectives,” Logano said. “I think that’s really the biggest thing. I don’t think there’s ever a moment that I feel like Paul hasn’t been honest with me. We’ve had the hard conversations.”
